Aviva, Tullow, PageGroup, Legal & General

The FTSE 250 index will be in the spotlight this week as several important firms publish their financial results. The index has pulled back to £19,925, which was lower than last month’s high of £20,586. In all, the index has pulled back from its year-to-date high of £20,597. Here are the top FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 stocks to watch.

Direct Line, Aviva, Legal & General

UK insurance and investment companies will be in the spotlight as they publish their financial results. They include firms like Direct Line (LON: DLG), Aviva (LON: AV), and Legal & General (LON: LGEM) will publish their results this week. These companies are expected to report mixed earnings. 

Direct Line recently warned about its financial results, which forced it to fire its CEO. It expects to boost its weather-related costs. The company will be the first insurance company to publish its financial results. Direct Line share price has plunged by more than 40% from the highest level in 2022.

Aviva share price has been in a consolidation phase in the past few weeks. It was trading at 447p, which is about 35% above its 2022 lows. The company’s results are expected to be relatively strong, with the spotlight being the company’s dividends and buybacks. In the most recent results, the CEO said that:

“We paid shareholders over £4 billion in B shares and dividends. But importantly, we have generated £0.5 billion of operating capital. The real kicker to our solvency ratio has come from market movements as interest rates, spreads and ForEx have pushed up our cover ratio to 234%.”

Like Aviva, Legal & General share price has done well recently. It has soared to a high of 263p, which was about 30% above the 2022 lows. The company will publish its results on Wednesday.

Tullow Oil

Tullow Oil (LON: TLW) share price has been in a strong sell-off even as oil and price has remained at an elevated level. This decline is in line with what I warned in this report. The company will publish its results on Wednesday. 

Analysts are less upbeat about the company after it was abandoned at the alter by Capricorn Energy. Its businesses in Kenya and Ghana are also going through challenges. Therefore, we can’t rule out a situation where the stock continues pulling back after its earnings results.

PageGroup

PageGroup (LON: PAGE) share price has risen relatively well after its dip earlier this year. Like other hiring companies, PageGroup warned about a dramatic decline in hiring. Therefore, its earnings report and guidance on Thursday. In the recent statement, the company said:

“As the quarter progressed, conditions became increasingly challenging and we saw a reduction in both candidate and client confidence, leading to further delays in decision making, as well as candidates being more reluctant to accept offers”

The other FTSE 250 index companies to watch this week are Informa, Seeing Machines, Entertain, M&G, Robert Walters, Fresnillo, IWG, and Greggs.